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Investigating of the Subjective Well-Being Based On Gender, Age and Personality Traits

Year 2011, Volume: 4 Issue: 36, 139 - 149, 27.05.2011

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the subjective well-being in terms of gender, age and personality traits. The participants of the study are a total of 699 individuals (372 females and 327 males). These subjects are from three age groups: 14-17 age group (adolescents); 19-25 age group (oung adults) and 26-45 age group (adults). The data of the study were collected through the use of three data collection tools, namely Personality Test based on Adjectives, The scale of life satisfaction and the scale of positivenegative emotions. The correlations between subjective well-being and gender were analysed through the use of t-tests for independent groups. The correlations between subjective well-being and age groups were analysed through the use of one-way variance analysis. The correlations between subjective well-being and subjective well-being were analysed through the use of multi-regression analyses. The findings obtained indicate that males from the 26-45 age group have higher levels of the subjective well-being in contrast to females in the same age group and that subjects in the 19-25 age group have lower levels of the subjective well-being in contrast to those in the remaining two age groups. It is also found that the subjective well-being of the individuals in the 14-17 age group is well explained by their personality traits such as extrovertness, being responsible and emotional instability. The subjective wellbeing of the subjects in the 19-25 age group is accounted by the personality traits of extrovertness, being responsible, emotional instability and docility. Being responsible and emotional instability are found to be significant factors in explaining the subjective well-being of the subjects in the 26-45 age group. The findings obtained are discussed in reference to previous studies.

References

  • Baltes, P.B. (1987). Theoritical propositons of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611-626.
  • Blanchflower, D.G. & Oswald, A.J. (2007). Is Well-being u-shaped over the Life Cycle? The Warwick economics research paper series (TWERPS) 826, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
  • Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. Economic Journal, 104, 648-659.
  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668-678.
  • Costa, P. T., McCrae, R. R., & Zonderman, A. B. (1987). Environmental and dispositional influences on well- being: longitudinal follow-up of an American national sample. The British Journal of Psychology, 78, 299- 306.
  • DeNeve, K., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta analysis of personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124,197-229.
  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-75.
  • Diener, E. (2001) Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.
  • Diener, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Personality and subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman,E.
  • Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (pp. 213-229). New York: Russell Sage.
  • Diener, E., Nickerson, C., Lucas, R.E., & Sandvik, E. (2002). Dispositional affect and job outcomes. Social Indicators Research, 59, 229-259.
  • Diener, E.,& Seligman,M.E. P. (2002).Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 80–83.
  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of wellbeing. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1–31.
  • Emmons, R.A., & McCullough, M.E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377–389.
  • Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
  • Eryılmaz, A. (2010). Ergenler için öznel iyi oluşu artırma stratejileri ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi. IV, 33,81-88.
  • Eryılmaz, A., & Öğülmüş, S. (2010). Ergenlikte öznel iyi oluş ve beş faktörlü kişilik Modeli. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 11,189-203.
  • Francis, L. J., & Katz, Y. J. (2000). Internal consistency reliability and validity of the hebrew translation of the oxford happiness ınventory. Psychological Reports, 87, 193-196.
  • Fraenkel, J.R., & Wallen, N.E. (1993). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: Mcgraw Hill.
  • Fujita, F. (1991). An investigation of the relation between extroversion, neuroticism, positive affect, and negative affect. Master’s Thesis, University of Illinois.
  • Furnham, A., & Cheng, H. (1997). Personality and happiness. Psychological Reports, 80, 761-762.
  • Furnham, A., & Cheng, H. (1999). Personality as predictor of mental health and happiness in the east and west. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 395-403.
  • Gençöz, T. (2000). Pozitif ve negatif duygu ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 15,46, 19-26.
  • Heady, B., & Wearing, A. (1992). Understanding Happiness: A Theory of Subjective Well Being. Melboune, Australia: Longman Cheshire
  • Huebner, E.S. (1991). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology Quarterly 6, 103–111.
  • Hybron, D.(2000). Two philosophical problems in the study of happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies,1:207-225.
  • İlhan, T., & Bacanlı, H. (2007). Mizah tarzları, kişilik özellikleri ve öznel iyi oluş: Bir model denemesi. Eğitim Bilimleri ve Uygulama Dergisi, 11, 35-52.
  • Kagan, J. (2003). Biology, context and developmental inquiry. Annual Rewiev of Psychology, 54, 1-23.
  • Köker, S. (1991). Normal ve sorunlu ergenlerin yaşam doyumu düzeyinin karşılaştırlması. A.Ü. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Ankara: Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2004). Unemployment alters the set point for life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 15, 8-13.
  • Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than others? The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being. American Psychologist, 56, 239-249.
  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111-131.
  • Lykken, D., & Tellegen, A. (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon. Psychological Science, 7, 186-189.
  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2003). Personality in Adulthood. New York: The Guilford Press.
  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personalityacross instruments and obsevers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52,81-90.
  • Myers, D. & Deiner, E. (1995). Who is happy. American Psychological Society. 6,1-19.
  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Rusting, C. (1999). Gender differences in well-being. In D.
  • Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Foundations of hedonic psychology: Scientific perspectives on enjoyment and suffering. (pp. 330-352). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Penley, J.A., & Tomaka, J.(2002). Associations among the big-five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress. Personality and Individual Differences. 32, 1215-1228.
  • Robinson, J.L., Emde, R.N., & Corley, R.P. (2001). Dispositional cheerfulness: Early genetic and environmental infuluences. In R. N. Emde & J.K. Hewitt (Eds.), Infancy to Early Childhood: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Developmental Cahange (pp.163-177). London: Oxford University Press.
  • Rusting, C.L., & Larsen, R.J. (1997). Extraversion, neuroticism, and susceptibility to positive and negative affect: A test of two theoritical models. Personality and Individual Differences. 22, 607-612.
  • Rusting, C. L. (1998). Personality, mood, and cognitive processing of emotional ınformation: Three conceptual frameworks. Psychological Bulletin 124, 165-196.
  • Ryff, C.D. (1989). Happiness is everything or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well- being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.
  • Sheldon, K. M.,& Bettencourt, B. A. (2002). Psychological need-satisfaction and subjective well-being within social groups. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 25–38.
  • Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well- being: The self- concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 546–557.
  • Somer, O. (1998). Beş faktör kişilik modeli. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, 1 (2), 35-62.
  • Somer, O., Korkmaz, M. & Tatar, A. (2002). Beş faktörlü kişilik envanterinin geliştirilmesi: Ölçek ve alt ölçeklerin oluşturulması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 17, 21-33.
  • Tamir, M., Robinson, M. D., & Clore, G. L. (2002). The epistemic benefits of trait consistent mood states: an analysis of extraversion and mood. Journal of Personality Social Psychology. 83, 3, 663--667.
  • Wilson, K., & Gullone, E. (1999). The relationship between personality and affect over the lifespan. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 1141-1156.
  • Vaillant, G.E. (2003). Mental health. Journal of American Psychiatry, 160,1373–1384.

Öznel İyi Oluşun Cinsiyet, Yaş Grupları ve Kişilik Özellikleri Açısından İncelenmesi

Year 2011, Volume: 4 Issue: 36, 139 - 149, 27.05.2011

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, öznel iyi oluşun, cinsiyet, yaş grupları ve kişilik özellikleri açısından incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma, 14-17 yaş gurunda (ergenlik), 19-25 yaş gurubunda (genç yetişkinlik) ve 26-45 yaş gurubunda (yetişkinlik) yer alan toplam 699 (372 kadın ve 327 erkek) kişiyle yürütülmüştür. Çalışmada Sıfatlara Dayalı Kişilik Testi, Yaşam Doyumu Ölçeği ve Pozitif-Negatif Duygu Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Öznel iyi oluş ve cinsiyet arasındaki ilişkiler, bağımsız gruplar için t-testi tekniğiyle; öznel iyi oluş ve yaş grupları arasındaki ilişkiler tek yönlü varyans analizi tekniği ile öznel iyi oluş ve kişilik özellikleri arasındaki ilişkiler çoklu regresyon analizi tekniğiyle incelenmiştir. Analiz sonuçlarına göre, 26-45 yaş gurubunda yer alan erkeklerin kadınlara oranla yüksek düzeyde öznel iyi oluşa sahip oldukları; 19-25 yaş gurubundaki bireylerin hem 14-17 hem de 26-45 yaş gurubundaki bireylere oranla düşük düzeyde öznel iyi oluşa sahip oldukları bulunmuştur. Çalışmada 14-17 yaş gurubundaki bireylerin öznel iyi oluşlarını, dışa dönüklük, sorumluluk ve duygusal dengesizlik kişilik özelliklerinin anlamlı bir şekilde açıkladığı sonucuna varılmıştır. 19-25 yaş gurubundaki bireylerin öznel iyi oluşlarını dışa dönüklük, sorumluluk, yumuşak başlılık ve duygusal dengesizlik; 26-45 yaş gurubundaki bireylerin öznel iyi oluşlarını ise, sorumluluk ve duygusal dengesizlik kişilik özelliklerinin anlamlı bir şekilde açıkladığı sonucuna varılmıştır. Bulgular literatür ışığında tartışılmıştır.

References

  • Baltes, P.B. (1987). Theoritical propositons of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611-626.
  • Blanchflower, D.G. & Oswald, A.J. (2007). Is Well-being u-shaped over the Life Cycle? The Warwick economics research paper series (TWERPS) 826, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
  • Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. Economic Journal, 104, 648-659.
  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668-678.
  • Costa, P. T., McCrae, R. R., & Zonderman, A. B. (1987). Environmental and dispositional influences on well- being: longitudinal follow-up of an American national sample. The British Journal of Psychology, 78, 299- 306.
  • DeNeve, K., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta analysis of personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124,197-229.
  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-75.
  • Diener, E. (2001) Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.
  • Diener, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Personality and subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman,E.
  • Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (pp. 213-229). New York: Russell Sage.
  • Diener, E., Nickerson, C., Lucas, R.E., & Sandvik, E. (2002). Dispositional affect and job outcomes. Social Indicators Research, 59, 229-259.
  • Diener, E.,& Seligman,M.E. P. (2002).Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 80–83.
  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of wellbeing. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1–31.
  • Emmons, R.A., & McCullough, M.E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377–389.
  • Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
  • Eryılmaz, A. (2010). Ergenler için öznel iyi oluşu artırma stratejileri ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi. IV, 33,81-88.
  • Eryılmaz, A., & Öğülmüş, S. (2010). Ergenlikte öznel iyi oluş ve beş faktörlü kişilik Modeli. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 11,189-203.
  • Francis, L. J., & Katz, Y. J. (2000). Internal consistency reliability and validity of the hebrew translation of the oxford happiness ınventory. Psychological Reports, 87, 193-196.
  • Fraenkel, J.R., & Wallen, N.E. (1993). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: Mcgraw Hill.
  • Fujita, F. (1991). An investigation of the relation between extroversion, neuroticism, positive affect, and negative affect. Master’s Thesis, University of Illinois.
  • Furnham, A., & Cheng, H. (1997). Personality and happiness. Psychological Reports, 80, 761-762.
  • Furnham, A., & Cheng, H. (1999). Personality as predictor of mental health and happiness in the east and west. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 395-403.
  • Gençöz, T. (2000). Pozitif ve negatif duygu ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 15,46, 19-26.
  • Heady, B., & Wearing, A. (1992). Understanding Happiness: A Theory of Subjective Well Being. Melboune, Australia: Longman Cheshire
  • Huebner, E.S. (1991). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology Quarterly 6, 103–111.
  • Hybron, D.(2000). Two philosophical problems in the study of happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies,1:207-225.
  • İlhan, T., & Bacanlı, H. (2007). Mizah tarzları, kişilik özellikleri ve öznel iyi oluş: Bir model denemesi. Eğitim Bilimleri ve Uygulama Dergisi, 11, 35-52.
  • Kagan, J. (2003). Biology, context and developmental inquiry. Annual Rewiev of Psychology, 54, 1-23.
  • Köker, S. (1991). Normal ve sorunlu ergenlerin yaşam doyumu düzeyinin karşılaştırlması. A.Ü. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Ankara: Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2004). Unemployment alters the set point for life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 15, 8-13.
  • Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than others? The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being. American Psychologist, 56, 239-249.
  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111-131.
  • Lykken, D., & Tellegen, A. (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon. Psychological Science, 7, 186-189.
  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2003). Personality in Adulthood. New York: The Guilford Press.
  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personalityacross instruments and obsevers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52,81-90.
  • Myers, D. & Deiner, E. (1995). Who is happy. American Psychological Society. 6,1-19.
  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Rusting, C. (1999). Gender differences in well-being. In D.
  • Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Foundations of hedonic psychology: Scientific perspectives on enjoyment and suffering. (pp. 330-352). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Penley, J.A., & Tomaka, J.(2002). Associations among the big-five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress. Personality and Individual Differences. 32, 1215-1228.
  • Robinson, J.L., Emde, R.N., & Corley, R.P. (2001). Dispositional cheerfulness: Early genetic and environmental infuluences. In R. N. Emde & J.K. Hewitt (Eds.), Infancy to Early Childhood: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Developmental Cahange (pp.163-177). London: Oxford University Press.
  • Rusting, C.L., & Larsen, R.J. (1997). Extraversion, neuroticism, and susceptibility to positive and negative affect: A test of two theoritical models. Personality and Individual Differences. 22, 607-612.
  • Rusting, C. L. (1998). Personality, mood, and cognitive processing of emotional ınformation: Three conceptual frameworks. Psychological Bulletin 124, 165-196.
  • Ryff, C.D. (1989). Happiness is everything or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well- being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.
  • Sheldon, K. M.,& Bettencourt, B. A. (2002). Psychological need-satisfaction and subjective well-being within social groups. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 25–38.
  • Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well- being: The self- concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 546–557.
  • Somer, O. (1998). Beş faktör kişilik modeli. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, 1 (2), 35-62.
  • Somer, O., Korkmaz, M. & Tatar, A. (2002). Beş faktörlü kişilik envanterinin geliştirilmesi: Ölçek ve alt ölçeklerin oluşturulması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 17, 21-33.
  • Tamir, M., Robinson, M. D., & Clore, G. L. (2002). The epistemic benefits of trait consistent mood states: an analysis of extraversion and mood. Journal of Personality Social Psychology. 83, 3, 663--667.
  • Wilson, K., & Gullone, E. (1999). The relationship between personality and affect over the lifespan. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 1141-1156.
  • Vaillant, G.E. (2003). Mental health. Journal of American Psychiatry, 160,1373–1384.
There are 50 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Ali Eryılmaz This is me

Leyla Ercan This is me

Publication Date May 27, 2011
Published in Issue Year 2011 Volume: 4 Issue: 36

Cite

APA Eryılmaz, A., & Ercan, L. (2011). Investigating of the Subjective Well-Being Based On Gender, Age and Personality Traits. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 4(36), 139-149. https://doi.org/10.17066/pdrd.59357

!! From 30 November 2023, English language proofreading will be required for accepted articles to ensure language quality.